According to statistical data, the average American moves house once every 5 years. In other words, a person in the U.S. is expected to move to a new home roughly 12 times in their lifetime.
It’s important to note that behind each and every house move there’s an underlying reason for moving. That’s right, there’s always a motive that’s strong enough to cause people to move from place to place.
Have you ever wondered why people move house? What is it that can make them pack up their things and go? Are those people running from something bad? What is it that they are hoping to find in the new place?
Read on to learn the top 20 reasons for moving house. Understanding why people move house can help you justify your own reasons to move out, leaving behind all comforting familiarity and good friends.
1. Finding a new job… or a better one
One of the most common reasons to move house is relocating for a new job in a new city, often in a new state.
It’s hard to pass up a great opportunity for a better-paid job or one that promises career advancement along the way. Given the chance for a better job, most people won’t hesitate for too long and will relocate anywhere within the country or even to a new country for a higher salary and better work conditions.
The brave decision to pursue a different career path can also send people packing for moving as the desired job position is often located far from where they live at the moment.
2. Moving due to a corporate transfer
Sometimes people don’t really have a choice but to move house because the companies they work for are sending them to a different place with a long-term task or are reassigning them to a different branch of the company.
Corporate transfers may turn out to be blessings in disguise even if it doesn’t look this way to the people who are about to be transferred. Oftentimes, if the company employees wish to keep their jobs, they have to say to the move and hope that things turn out to be ok in the end.
3. Moving closer to work
Sometimes people move house for the strangest of reasons – unusual motives that some will find too weak to trigger a house move. The perfect example? Moving closer to work.
The thing is that anyone who makes up their mind to move closer to their workplace does not find the underlying reason to relocate strange at all. Losing hours in commute every single day is no fun, weaving through heavy traffic and even dealing with road rage can be exasperating as well.
And what about the high transportation costs of driving long hours to work and back home on a daily basis?
4. Moving to be with a loved one
Without a doubt, one of the best reasons to move house is to do it for love.
It’s the way that that heart should follow, and that way often leads to another city, to another state, and sometimes to another country altogether. But it’s the right thing to do and whoever is moving to be with the person they love, they will surely overcome all the challenges of a house move with a smile on their face.
Moving house for love just happens to be the most romantic reason of them all – the strongest of motives to relocate to another place that should never be discarded.
5. Newlyweds moving in together
Newlyweds moving in together must be the best reason to move house.
Moving house after marriage is a very common reason for people to move house.
When two households are about to merge into one, there’s always the dilemma of where the newlyweds will live. Will the bride be moving in with the bridegroom, or will the bride be moving into the bride’s place?
Oftentimes, a good option to resolve this dilemma is when the newlyweds decide to move to a neutral city in a neutral state and try to make it work there so that there are no hard feelings from anyone.
6. Following a spouse or a partner
If a spouse or a partner has to relocate fairly often as part of their job, then the significant other is left with little choice but to follow them to wherever that destination might be.
That is far from an ideal house moving scenario for many as moving house too often can leave some people feeling empty inside, without a fair chance to make long-lasting friends or get to settle down in order to feel truly happy in one place.
When following a spouse or a partner, it usually comes down to focusing on the positives that each house move will surely bring about.
7. Moving out after a breakup or divorce
Finding love will compel people to relocate… but so will losing love. Regrettably, lost love – be it a breakup or a divorce – is one of the principal reasons for people to move out.
After the end of a relationship – especially a bad one, one of the parties may choose to move out secretly in an attempt to avoid a Moving day scene. A stealth move is trickier to organize but it’s still possible – in certain situations, it may be the only one to move away without losing one’s sanity.
8. Moving closer to family
Why do people move? Not surprisingly, a great number of people are moving house just to be closer to their families.
Now, grown-up children may decide to move closer to their elderly parents to be able to help them out whenever necessary, especially when the parents are not healthy and need somebody to look after them.
Also, adult children can ask their parents to move closer to them in order to help up with the tough job of raising young children.
Either way, moving closer to the family just happens to be one of the most common reasons people move from one place to another.
9. Moving to continue one’s education
Since education is one of the most important things in life, many students move out of their parents’ house to continue their education at colleges or universities around the country, or abroad.
Moving to another state for higher education is typical, especially when students have the ambition to study at the most prestigious universities in the country. Sometimes, the whole family may choose to relocate to the city where the higher education institute is located.
In most cases though, students opt to move out by themselves and live on the campus as part of the college life experience.
10. Moving after retirement
After years of hard work, retirement sounds like a sweet deal.
Most retirees feel that their reward for working hard for so many years is to move to a place that features a mild climate and is tranquil enough to minimize any stress during the Golden years.
It’s common for retired people to move house in search of that perfect place to spend the remainder of their time here on Earth.
Moving to a city or a state that’s fairly affordable is often a big plus, but there are a number of other important factors to be considered such as climate, healthcare, and even entertainment options such as outdoor activities.
Pros and Cons of Moving After Retirement
11. Home has become too small
Upsizing one’s home to accommodate the immediate needs of a growing family is a common reason to move out.
Starter homes may be fine for newlyweds to move into but once a family starts to grow in numbers, such modest homes tend to become too small too quickly.
Another good reason why people move house is that the place they live in has already become too small for their growing needs. Waiting in line to use the bathroom is usually the first sign but when each child needs their own room, then things can become complicated in a hurry.
12. Home has become too big
Downsizing one’s home to save money is a common reason to move to a smaller home.
That scenario usually happens when the children move out of the home, either to pursue their education or to work in a new city. And when a home becomes too big for the parents, it also means extra work for them to maintain it, and more importantly – additional money to keep it in shape.
When people start to hear their own echo in a large yet empty home, it is usually the first sign that it’s time to downsize.
How to Downsize Your Home When Moving
13. Becoming a homeowner
Renting an apartment can be a great option for young people who are yet to find a good and stable job and start a family. But as time goes by, some of those renters will begin to look for ways to purchase their own homes and become homeowners in their own right.
Homeownership is not easy to achieve by any means but it does give people excellent opportunities to create the home of their dreams.
So, purchasing a home is definitely one of the best reasons to move out of a rented place and start the exciting journey of homeownership.
14. Rental agreement is over
Of course, the most common reason for moving out of a rental property is that the rental agreement is over, either through premature termination from one side or when the term of the rental lease expires and the parties do not wish to extend it for some reason or another.
And that’s exactly why the last several days of a month and the first few days of the next month is such a busy period for professional movers – it’s when rental agreements end and the renters are moving out of the places they’ve lived until that moment.
Moving Out of a Rental Property
15. Moving to a better neighborhood
Some neighborhoods are just better than others.
Sometimes it’s not about the home itself, it’s about the neighborhood in which it is located. And unfortunately, people may be forced to leave their current apartment or house simply because of the bad neighborhood they happen to live in.
Things change, and so do neighborhoods. What was once a good area may have slowly but surely deteriorated to a state that is simply unbearable for some families – bad neighbors, a high crime rate, above-average pollution, dangerous streets – you name it.
When things become just too intolerable in an area, most people will just choose to preserve their health and start looking for a better neighborhood to move to.
Tips for Moving to a New Neighborhood
16. Moving to a better school district
Whenever young children become old enough to start school, many parents reach the important decision to move house so that they can live in a better school district.
It’s no secret that some schools are better than others, and sometimes one of the requirements for children to attend certain reputable schools is that the family must live within the area of the school itself (geographical catchment area).
Some parents take their kids’ education very seriously, so it’s not unusual for them to decide to move house just to give their children better educational opportunities.
10 Tips for Moving With Children
17. Moving in search of a better climate
Another good reason to move to another state is the simple fact that people no longer tolerate the climate in the area where they live.
At first, climate does not really sound like a strong motive to move away, but after years of putting up with unfavorable weather conditions, some people just can’t take it anymore.
Having to endure long winter months of sub-zero temperatures, year after year, is an incentive for some to simply move to a warmer state and enjoy all the benefits that come with the much milder climate.
On the other hand, there are those people who have had enough of the scorching sun and wish to relocate to a colder state to escape from the never-ending heat.
Pros and Cons of Moving to a Warmer State
18. Moving for health reasons
Extremely hot or very humid climates can be bad for some people who can develop a variety of allergies or have prolonged spells of dizziness or overall fatigue. And if that’s the case, then those individuals should certainly look for ways to move to areas where the climatic conditions will be much more favorable for them.
People who suffer from respiratory illnesses are often advised to leave the big city and relocate to smaller towns, mountainous areas, or simply more rural areas where the air quality is much better.
And people with mobility problems may need to move into one-story homes.
19. Running away from bad memories
It’s time to move house, isn’t it?
One of the strongest motivators to leave the place where people live right now is the urgency they must feel to run away from someone or to get as far away from bad memories as possible.
Everyone deserves to be happy, and if there’s someone, someones, or things that make a person truly miserable, then he or she must find the strength within them to move away in search of a fresh start that will hopefully lay the foundation for a better life.
It takes a lot of courage and determination to decide to move to another part of the country and start a new life chapter.
20. Pursuing a dream
Ultimately, the major reason for moving to a new house can be the pursuit of a cherished dream – the strong desire to leave the current home and go to a place that the heart has wanted dearly for years.
The reasons why people move house can be extremely diverse and most often connected directly or indirectly to work, education, love, family, climate, health, retirement, school, or dreams.
So, what’s your good reason to move out?
How Much Does It Cost to Hire Movers?
The post Why Do People Move House? Top 20 Reasons Why People Relocate appeared first on The Moving Blog.
